Direct-acting engine



(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 1.

W. P. GOODWIN. Direct Acting Engine. No. 242,446. v Patented June7,1881.

(No Model.)

4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

W. P. GOODWIN. Direct Acting Engine.

Patented June 7,1881.

N. PEIERS. Phulo-Lilhographur. Washington. D. (L

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet a.

W. F. GOODWIN.

Direct Acting Engine). N0. 242,446. Patented June 7,1881.

WEZ/zew/ea; JiwewZom n. PETERS, Pmlo-Liihogmpmr. wane-m n. c.

(N0 Model.) I 4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

W. I". GOODWIN. Direct Acting Engine. No, 242,446. Patented fune 7,1881;

N. FEIERS. mmmmn w, Waahingtun. n c

ill

NITED STATES PATENT Fries.

lV ILLIAM F. GOUDVV IN, OF STELTON, NEW JERSEY.

DIRECT-ACTING ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 242,446, dated June 7,1881. Application filed December 18, 1880. (No model.) Patented inEngland November 5,1879.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM FARR Goon- WIN, of the town of Stelton, inthe county of Middlesex and State of New Jersey, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Steam-Engines, for economizing the steamor other expansive force employed with or suited to the engine; and thefollowing is a full, clear, and comprehensive description of the same,reference being had to the accompanying five sheets of drawings, inwhich Figure 1 isalongitudinal side elevation, and Fig. 2 a likevertical section, of an engine embodying my invention. Figs. 3 and 4 areinside and outside elevations of the cylinderheads. Figs. 5, (3, and 7are detailviews showin g the construction and arrangemei'ltof valve.Figs. 8 and 9 show, respectively, a longitudinal side elevation andalike section of asli ghtl y modified construction of cylinder-heads.

In the above figures of drawings like letters of reference are employedto indicate like parts wherever such may occur.

I will first describe the objects and nature of my invention, and thenits mode of construction and operation.

From the beginning of the use of steam as a motive-power in thesteam-engine one of the most important problems has been to find themost economical means of its employment, and great progress has beenmade toward the solution of this problem in the construction of thecylinder of the modern steam-engine by locating the valves near the endsthereof, in order to decrease the superfluous space in the passagebetween the valve and piston-space.

The object of my invention is to make an enginc in which simplicity,durability, {111(1131101 ough economy are combined in its constructionand operation as a whole, as well as in its details, for all sizes ofengines and for all purposes t'or which engines of this class are madeor may hereafter be made and adapted for use; and to that end the natureof my invention consists, first, in the peculiar construction andarrangement of the mechanism of an engine and its valves, wherein thevalves are situated in the heads of the cylinder in such a manner thatthere remains the least possible distance between the "alve or valvesand the piston-space, and the little distance remaining through thenecessary thickness of the metal is filled at each end of the stroke byridges formed on each end of the piston in a manner that conforms to theports for accomplishing the first objects of my invention; second, inthe two modified forms of engines embodying the sameprinciple; third, inthe peculiar mechanism by which the valves are adjusted and operated;fourth, in the peculiar means employed for oiling the pistons of enginesand for testing the tightness of the packing; and, lastly, inthecombination ofthe elements above set forth, whereby the objects of myinvention are accomplished, and in their details of construction andarrangement, all as hereinafter fully described.

Referring more particularly to Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, Arepresents the cylindcrproper, provided with the induction ports andpassages l and the eduction ports and passages P for the steam, andhaving the cylinderA, allcast in one piece.

H and H are the cylinder-heads, in which are formed four valve-casings,O, for the reception of the oscillating valves, which are arranged, inthis instance, in pairs in each cylinder-head, H Hthat is to say, eachof said heads has an induction-valve, V, and an eduction-valve, V, asshown, and arranged to open and close the induction-ports P and theeduction-ports P Said ports P P are formed in each head H H, and each ofsaid heads, with their valve casings and ports, are also cast of onepiece, the head 11 having also a stutfingbox, H through which passes thepiston-rod R, carrying a piston of novel construction.

The piston R consists of a disk, 4*, havinga sleeve or tubular bearing,r, for the end of the piston-rod, ot' a follower disk, 1*, anintermediate face-ring, M, and ot' packing-rings m. The disk r and thefollower or disk r are provided with ridges R adapted to enter orproject intoand fill up the ports P P in each head, so as to completelyavoid all superfluous space between the valve and the piston-space. Bythis means I effect a great economy in the steam employed, since nowaste can take place by reason of any steam-space between the valve andpiston, as is the case in all engines as now constructed where thevalves are located more or less remote from said piston-space.

Instead of a disk, 0", and a follower, r, two followers or disks may beemployed, said followers being thenarran ged upon opposite sides of thebearing 0" for the piston-rod, as shown in Fig. 9.

In order to automatically oil the periphery of the piston and theinterior periphery of the cylinder, I providethe piston-rod with anoilpassage, 0, that communicates at one end, by means of a tube, 0, witha peripheral groove, m, in the face-ring M of the piston R, and at theother end with the oil'passage 0 in the stem of an oil-cup, O, that islocated on the outside end of said rod R, at a point above the plane ofmotion of the periphery of the piston B, so that the oil is continuallyfed to the interior face of the cylinder through the piston-rod, asplainly shown.

The object of providing thepiston with packing-rings on each side of thecentral grooved ring or flange, M, is to avoid the waste of oil and tobetter conduct the latter to the periphcry of the cylinder. Thisconstruction of antomatic oil-feed from without the cylinder to theinterior periphery of the piston-space has the further advantage ofenabling the attendant to test the packing of the piston, as it isevident that if the packing is not steam-tight the steam will pass intothe oil-passage 0 0, thence in to the oil-cup, so that in this manner itmay be ascertained at any time whether the piston is working steam-tightor not.

As above stated, each cylinder-head is provided with two valve casingsor seats, 0, for the oscillating valves V or V, which are provided ateach end with an extended bearing, V, in which is formed an annulargroove, V for the reception of a packing that will retain the oil fromthe oil cups 0 Figs. 3 and 4.

g, Figs. 5 and 7, is the valve-rod, which passes through a stufling-boxor plug, 0, and carries at one end an operating-crank, D, the valvesbeing fitted to the casings by means of screwplugs, as shown.

The object of extending the hearings of the valves is to obtain greaterwearin gsurfacc, and the object of packing them oil-tight, or nearly so,is to keep them constau tly lubricated without waste of oil, as asufiicient quantity of the latter will pass through the packing and endbearin gs to hearings on each side of the ports, and to the valve-seats.

The valves are kept steam-tight by the constant pressure of live steamupon their backs, said live steam being conducted to the backs of theexhaust-valves by the passage H As shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 4, theinduction and eduction valves are operated independent 1 y, the formerbeing controlled by anysuitable variable cut-off, while the latter arecontrolled by an independent operating mechanism of peculiarconstruction, that will be more fully described hereinafter. The arrows,Fig. 2, show the ingress and egress of the steam, the valves in saidfigure being shown in their relative positions to that of the piston,which positions will be reversed when said piston has reached a likeposition in a reversed direction, as will be easily understood.

The construction of engine above described is best suited for stationaryengines of great power; but for marine and locomotive engines the.construction shown by Figs. 8 and 9 is best suited, which is in everyrespect the same as that already described, except that only one valve,V, is employed in each of the cylinder heads, H H, the one valve in eachhead serving the double purpose of both the induction and eductionvalves. The bridge of the valve moves over the port, thus permitting thesteam to enter through one side and escape through the other.

The rod D connects the valves with the reversing-link L, connected tothe cam by rods l l. The valves maybe operated by the novel cut-ofl'mechanism above referred to and described hereinafter.

Fig. 10 shows a modification of the cylinder A and its heads H H, inrespect to the situa tion of the induction-port, which latter is in thiscase situated on. the same side of the cylinder as the exhaustport andon the outside of the latter, and the corresponding ports in thecylinder-heads II II are formed around the outside of the valve-cases U,and enter the latter to the valve-chambers upon the same side of thevalve as those shown in Figs. 2 and 9. This modification is useful wherea condenser is formed in the lied-plate, or in small engines in whichthe cylinder is cast to the bed-plate; but it is obvious that the objectof the invention and principles thereof are identically the same asthose of the other figures above referred to.

Fig. 11 represents a three-motion cam, X, made in three differentcircles, each of the three divisions or segments of which circles beingconcentric with the axis of the revolving shaft Q, upon which the cam ismounted, and the smaller and larger circles being connected by bridges,which inclinefrom the larger to the smaller circles, thus forming thecontinuous track with theeccentric bridges or cam inclination, whichserve to change the rollers from one circle to the other, thus shiftingthe arms X, to which the said rollers are attached, and therebycon'nnunicating the necessary motions through the rods D and links 1) tothe valve. The rollers .13 00 being attached to the middle of the arm X,which is pivoted by one end to a stationary pin, m or to any suitablestandard, and by the other-the swinging end-to the rod which operatesthe valve at the opposite end of the cylinder, Fig. ].l,re1 rescnted asopen to admit steam to the piston-space. \Vhen the said rollers changefrom the smaller circle, I), to the larger circle, I), at the bridge B,the position of the valve will be reversed, and the bridge of the valvewill cross over to the other side of the portand discharge steam fromthe piston-space until the rollers reach the bridge B, which conductsthem to the middle circle or track If, thus shifting the valve to themiddle of its motiona position in ICC which .the valve-bridge covers theport-and remains in that position until the rollers have again reachedthe bridge 13, which latter conducts them again to the smaller circle,b, and again opens the port.

Both valves being operated by the samccam, but by a similar butindependent device, the same description serves for both arms and theirvalves.

The peculiar apparatus shown in this figure is designed especially for acut-off motion, such as used on marine-engines, and to operate togetherwith a common eccentric motion, or with the two-motion cam, Figs. 12 and13, of similar construction, but having two tracks instead of three, asin the first cam described, which two-motion cam I will now describe,referring to said Figs. 12 and 13, the former of which represents a sideview of said two-motion cam Y, constructed with two circular tracksonly, the larger and the smaller circles being used to open and closethe exhaust-ports. Vhen used in connection with the four-valve engineshown in Figs. 1 and 2, and when used in connection with the twow'alveengine shown in Figs. 8, 9, and 10, it serves as a reversingcam, openingwide the ports at each end of the stroke of the piston and holding themin that position while the piston travels the length of itspiston-space. Hence, when the above-described cams are bolted together,as shown in Fig. 13, and connected to a link or links, as shown in Fig.10, the two-track cam serves as a backing-cam; but when disconnectedfrom the links of the three-motion cam and connected directly with therod D or valve-crank, as shown in Fig. 1, it serves for both backing andgoing-ahead motions in like manner to the common eccentric, except inrespect to its quicker motions in moving the valves in less time ascompared with the speed of the piston.

Fig. 13 represents a front view of both the above-described cams joinedtogether, showing the positions of the arms and rollers. In order toenable others to make such cams, I have shown the geometrical lines, bywhich rule the cams are laid out for the patterns. This kind of cam, isdesigned to take the place of the yoke-cam, and to serve as two cams foroperating the two valves, one of which is at each end ofthe cylinder, asby the independent arms and rollers the rim of the cam,passing betweenthem alternately, makes an independent mo tion for each valve at theproper time, and leaving the other valve at rest in its proper position,when used in the manner shown in Fig. 12.

The advantages of this novel mechanism are 111 its simplicity, requiringonly the one cam to produce the two motions for the two separate valves,while in the ordinary mechanism for the same purpose two outside camsare employed within yokes, which latter connect with the 'alves by meansof rods, rock-shaft, and levers.

It is obvious to those who are acquainted with the mechanism of thepuppet-valve engine that the. one cam is simpler than two, and that thetwo rollers bearing arms are simpler than yokes, rock-shaft, and levers,or the compound valves and two rock-shafts, where the levers aredispensed with; and in this new mechanism the common link is used forreversin g or changing motion from the cutoff mechanism to that of thefull stroke operated by the two-motion cam, which latter requires butone arm. The pivotal arms serve the double purpose of transmitting andmultiplying motion, the swinging end moving double the distance moved bythe rollers, which are pivoted at the middle of the arm. Hence thecam-inclinations are not necessarilysteep, as the length of motion isprovided through the length of the swinging end of the arm as relates tothat part of the latter between the points of power and its fulcrum,thus performing the same function as the arms of the ordinary rockshaft.1

The rollers working astride of the cam-flange are easily kept tight uponthe latter by making the arms forked or open in the middle and joined ateach end with sufficient spring to hold the-rollers tight upon thesurfaces of the cam-track.

Adjusting-screws can be employed to close the fork of the arms, ifnecessary, to provide for wear.

There can be but little or no noise in its op eration, becausa therollers are always tight upon the flange, and no loose motion ispermitted.

The cams are secured to each other by means of bolts, (not shown,) andoperate together as one piece, turning with the crank-shaft Q, to whichthe hub y of the cam Y is a tached by means of a spirally toothed orthreaded clutch, Z, which latter is mounted loosely upon the said shaftand permitted to slide lengthwise thereof, but is secured from turningupon said shaft by a feather or key fitted into a groove in the saidshaft and into a corresponding groove in the said clutch.

S is a yoke fitted into the annular groove in the clutch Z, and ispivoted to a lever, S, one end of which latter is pivoted to a fixedstud upon the bed-plate, and the other end is moved back and forth inthe rack or toothed segment S The hub of the cam is fitted loosely uponthe shaft between collars, which prevent its moving lengthwise of theshaft, but permits the cam to turn, and the shaft, as the spiral clutchis moved to and from the cam-hub by the lever 3. Hence it is obviousthat by movin g the top ot'the saidlever the clutch is moved, causingthe cams to slightly turn upon the shaft, and thus affording a readymeans of adjusting the lead of the valves for any desired speed, for thepurpose ot'cushioningthe momentum ofthereciprocating bodies atfast speedand removing t heeushion therefrom atslow speeda very importantdesideratum in moving engines wherein various speeds are attained as theadjustment can be effected whilethe englue is running at its highestspeed-a thing which, to my knowledge, has heretofore never been done;but for the reason that a suitable device for the purpose requiredinvention the principle of the screw embodied therein renders itpossible to effect the desired result with a mechanism which insuresstrength, durability, and efliciency at the same time.

The several figures of the drawings are sufficiently simple, plain, anddistinct to be thoroughly comprehended by ordinary engineers, andengines constructed from the drawings alone, without addingadescription, would operate. I will therefore point out thepeculiarities of the new mechanism as they occur in the several figuresot' the drawings.

Fig. 1, Sheet 1, represents a view of a fourvalve engine, designed forheavy stationary work, in which economy of steam is attained by workingitexpansively; hencethe arrangement of the induction-valves V to workindependently of each other, and also of the discharge-valves V, in amanner that will admit of the advantage of a variable cut-ofi apparatusfor operating the valves.

A novel valve-motion for operating the exhaust-valves is shown in Figs.10 and 11, which attaches to the comiecting'rod D, as the cameccentricities indicate.

I claim as my invention- 1. The cylinder A herein described, providedwith ports P I adapted to receive the cylinder-heads II I1, in whichlatter valves constructed in the manner specified are located,substantially as shown and described.

2. The heads H H, combined with the cylinderA in such manner that theports of the cylinder A and those in the heads H H will joincorrespondingly, and thus form continuous passages for the steam both toand from the valves, all constructed substantially as shown anddescribed.

3. The journal-bearings V formed on the ends of the valves V and V,-foraffording with two bridges, m w, to serve as cut-off and cushion valves,in combination with the threemotion cam X and eccentric,all arrangedsubstantially as shown and described.

5. In combination with the engine, constructed as described, the flangedth rec-motion cam X with its rollers I1 and arms 3 constructed tooperate the cut-off valves independently or together, substantially inthe manner shown and described.

6. The combination, in an engine constructed substantially as described,of the cams X and Y with the connecting-rods D D and links L L, arrangedto operate together, substan' tially as shown, and for the purpose setforth.

7. The ridges R R formed on the ends of piston It to correspond with theports in the cylinder-heads H H and protrude into and partly close saidports at each end of the stroke of the piston, to prevent waste ofsteam, substantially as shown and described.

8. In an engine constructed as described, the piston R and piston-rodR,provided with passages 0 0 and annular groove 121, through which oilis admitted from the outside to the peripheral surface of the piston,substantially as and for the purpose specified.

9. In an engine constructed as described, the piston R, having metallicpackingrings upon each side of an oil-supplying groove,m, for preventingthe oil from wasting, and affording a ready means of testing thetightness of the piston-packing, substantially as set forth.

10. The combination, with the cylinderAand its ports P P, of the heads11 H, provided with cases 0 U, having valve-seats and ports for thereversible valves V and V, all constrncted and arranged as shown, andfor the purpose described.

11. In an engine constructed as described, the device Z y, incombination with the valveoperatiug mechanism for adjusting the valvesand giving them more or less lead, as desired, all arrangedsubstantially as shown and specified.

WM. FARR eoonwm.

Witnesses: I

HENRY ()RTH, WM. A. McELwEE.

